Kris Marshall Quick Links

Kris Marshall may have missed out on the main role, but he could yet feature as Jodie Whittaker's assistant.

Having been pipped to the post of the role as the next ‘Doctor Who’ by Jodie Whittaker when the BBC made its big reveal last weekend, Kris Marshall could reportedly yet land a place in the Tardis as the next Doctor’s assistant.

The 44 year old English actor had been the bookies’ favourite to be named as Peter Capaldi’s successor after he steps down after the upcoming Christmas special. However, the BBC confirmed on Sunday that the 13th Doctor would be 35 year old Whittaker, one of the stars of ‘Broadchurch’, who would be the first woman to play the Time Lord.

However, despite his disappointment at missing out on the title role, new reports suggest that former ‘Death In Paradise’ and ‘My Family’ star Marshall could be in line to be the new Doctor’s companion.

A 'Doctor Who' fan wrote in recently to tell the BBC that a female Doctor would confuse his children.

Rumours that Kris Marshall is set to become the next Doctor Who have gained more credibility after a BBC complaints officer assured a disgruntled fan that there were “currently no plans” for the next Timelord to be a woman.

The current star of the BBC sci-fi series, Peter Capaldi, has recently begun his final series in the role, and speculation has been mounting for several months as to the identity of the new Doctor. Many had predicted that a female actor would take over, with the likes of Tilda Swinton, Olivia Coleman and Phoebe Waller-Bridge being regularly mentioned in connection with the soon-to-be vacant part.

Reports are starting to emerge regarding the identity of the actor who is set to take over Peter Capaldi as the 13th Doctor in 'Doctor Who' later this year, with many news outlets naming him as Kris Marshall. Of course, not all DW fans are happy about it.

Kris Marshall at the 'Best Men' photocall

Despite whispers everywhere that the next Doctor would be female, it seems BBC producers are dead-set on sticking to the safe option by enlisting 44-year-old 'Death in Paradise' star Kris Marshall as the next incarnation of the flighty Time Lord. Plus, rumours also suggest that we'll get our first glimpse of the new actor at the end of this current series.

Marshall is quitting the popular BBC series at the end of the current sixth series, to be replaced by Ardal O'Hanlon.

British actor Kris Marshall, the star of BBC One’s ‘Death In Paradise’ for the last four years, has decided to quit the show, to be replaced by Ardal O’Hanlon.

43 year old Marshall has played DI Humphrey Goodman on the detective drama since 2014, a series that’s filmed on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe for six months each year. However, he’s bowing out because he wants to spend more time with his young family, he said in an announcement on Thursday (February 2nd).

“’Death In Paradise’ has been an incredible experience, six months every year filming on a tropical island in the sunshine - what's not to love!” Marshall said. His final appearance as the bumbling detective will come when the sixth series finishes next week, on February 9th.

Anyone who has seen either film version of Craig's previous script Death at a Funeral will immediately recognise the approach: madcap chaos at a family rite of passage. For a late-night screening when you definitely don't want to engage your brain, this approach might just keep you laughing. But sober audiences looking for an enjoyable comedy should steer clear.

At the centre are a blandly likeable couple, British David (Samuel) and Aussie Mia (Brent), who decide to get married. On the day before the wedding, David heads from London to Sydney with his three idiot friends: prankster Tom (Marshall), creepy Graham (Bishop) and the deeply depressed Luke (Draxl). While David meets Mia's establishment parents (Newton-John and Biggins) and rebellious sister (Wilson), his groomsmen get entangled with a seedy drug dealer (Le Marquand). Will they be able to sort out the mess before the marriage ceremony?

On David's return from his holiday, he announces to his friends Tom, Graham and Luke that he has met someone and is engaged to be married. They are shocked and not altogether happy about it but agree to give David a day to remember and together travel to Australia where the wedding is to take place. However, with bride-to-be Mia's coke-head mother, her father's transvestite sheep, a gimp mask, a dodgy drug dealer and a catastrophic stag-do, will David and Mia's wedding turn out to be a day they'd rather forget?

This hilarious Australian-British comedy is full of cringe-worthy moments and will most definitely attach a permanent smile to your face as Xavier Samuel ('Twilight: Eclipse'), Kris Marshall ('My Family', 'Love Actually'), Kevin Bishop ('The Kevin Bishop Show') and Tim Draxl ('Swimming Upstream') entertain you with all manner of disasters and misadventures.

The film is directed by Stephan Elliott ('Easy Virtue', 'The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert') and written by Dean Craig ('Death at a Funeral'). It is to be released on August 31st.

Frank Oz, better known as the voice of Yoda and Miss Piggy, has settled into the director's chair quite frequently in his career, even dabbling in comedy on occasion. At the helm of Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, he paired Steve Martin and Michael Caine to comedic effect, ditto Martin and Eddie Murphy in Bowfinger. Death at a Funeral sees him working without stars, but the comedy doesn't really seem to suffer.

The film begins with a very funny gag involving the opening of a casket, not the easiest moment in life from which to wring humor. With it, we are introduced to Daniel (Matthew MacFayden), who is about to bury his father. With the aid of his wife Jane (Keeley Hawes) he must accommodate a gaggle of guests pre-loaded with neuroses.

I can only presume that the British calendar is so uniquely screwy that it allows for a Christmas movie to open a week after Halloween. Or maybe Love Actually is just in a universe of its own... one in which the prime minister is inaugurated in November and where an adverb can be used to modify a noun.

But a little oddness is forgivable: Directing a movie is a strange place for Richard Curtis, who's written umpteen Brit-friendly movies and TV shows over the years but hasn't directed one, until now.

When I heard that Al Pacino was playing Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, part of me was extremely skeptical. I was fearful he would bellow every other word ("If YOU prick US!"), which has been his acting technique for over a decade. Or, perhaps he would lapse into the Foghorn Leghorn accent that made The Recruit such a hoot.

It's been a crap shoot with the great actor for some time. Watching Pacino is like watching a beloved, over the hill athlete sticking around. He hobbles, the crispness of his movements isn't there, and the mixture of luck and confidence he once had is just a pleasant memory. More often than not, you just hope he just doesn't stumble. You just want a glimmer of what once was.

"Love Actually" is terminally precious. Chirpy "classic" pop songs populate every third scene. It has no structure, just a jumble of interconnected stories -- some little dramas, some little comedies -- about love, flirtation, courtship and heartbreak, all of which will pay off just in time for a lovely London Christmas.

It's the kind of pandering, populist movie in which Hugh Grant, playing the prime minister of England, joyously shakes his booty to The Pointer Sisters' "Jump (For My Love)" until he suddenly, to his great embarrassment, realizes he's being watched. It offers no real surprises except in how and when it reveals the inevitable six degrees of separation between each anecdotal yarn -- none of which has enough substance to ever stand on its own (nor would you want them to!).

And yet, you'd have to be a terrible grump to not like "Love Actually" at least a little.